Snooker must broaden its horizons as White, Ding make early Masters exits

“I’d go back, but only to see Ronnie”, was the remark from one member of the audience leaving Wembley Arena after the first day of the 2010 snooker Masters. It is a worrying comment on the current state of snooker if the sport is relying above all other supposed star attractions on one big draw – Ronnie O’Sullivan – to pull in the crowds.

The inclusion of veteran Jimmy White as a wildcard in the Masters was presumably an attempt by the powers-that-be to generate an extra wave of interest. But the gamble failed. White was exasperatingly below/past his best in losing 6-2 to Mark King, frequently running out of position or missing easy balls. It was, frankly, rather sad to see this snooker great produce a performance that was a mere shadow of the Whirlwind of old and one that utterly failed to justify his invitation to the tournament. There was a decided air of terminal decline about it as far as White’s snooker career is concerned.

White was of course never going to be able to revive snooker’s fortunes single-handedly. The lesson for those trying to revitalise the sport is that it is no longer good enough to fall back on the old local heroes, whether or not they are accompanied into the arena by rock music. It is time to move on. White’s wildcard could have been given instead to a promising young player (e.g. Judd Trump) or to an overseas talent: Liang Wenbo of China seemed to have a good case and probably would have boosted global viewing figures more than White. Not taking this approach was a missed opportunity and sent the wrong messages for the future.

Meanwhile, Liang’s compatriot Ding Junhui, who was in the tournament but crashed out in disappointing fashion 6-1 to Mark Selby in his opening match, explained afterwards that he had not had enough time to prepare: “I was busy in China [over the Christmas period], I played in a Chinese ranking tournament and did some things for sponsors. I didn't get back until January 4th so I only had four days to practice. I'll be working hard now to be ready for the Welsh Open.” Perhaps Ding is just not comfortable at the Wembley venue. Still, admitting to not being fully prepared due to other commitments is hardly a ringing endorsement of the Masters – which, though non-ranking, is billed as snooker’s premier invitational tournament – from the player who in December won the UK Championship, the second biggest event on the calendar.

So what to do about the future of snooker? Well, this correspondent has said it before and will say it again: the World Championship, snooker’s biggest prize by far, is pivotal. And in the interests of promoting a more global vision, I repeat the following idea: the World Championship could be staged alternately between the Crucible in Sheffield and other international venues – perhaps, say, having it at the Crucible every four years with, given sufficient interest, the Far East, the Middle East and North America staging it in between; or at the Crucible every other year and alternating between the others. Snooker is a marvellous game – but it will lose its way if it allows itself to become too parochial.

Comments

[theoutsider]

The rock star touch is reminiscent of the crowd-pleasing stunts of major league baseball....what's next - the wave? collectable players' cards? Still, it does seem clear that something's gotta change.